Addis Ababa (Fides Service) - Effects of drought 2002 - Report in situ.
First rain season March-May: little rain: maize and sorghum harvest seriously damaged.
Second rain season July-September: little rain. Subsistence farmers forced to use inferior cheaper seed. In 2002 only 3,000 tons of seed of improved seed was sown compared to 11,000 the previous year. The use of fertiliser also dropped by 17%, and there were problems with ploughing (done with animals decimated by drought). Oxen are indispensable for farming in Ethiopia: when they get weak or die because of lack of water and fodder, farming suffers. Pastoral farming also suffers.
As a result, production in the worst hit regions drooped by 81%. Besides threatening the lives of 11 million people with starvation, the other consequences of drought are: disputes among shepherds over pastureland; worsening health condition of people, living off roots and wild plants.
To face the crisis the government of Ethiopia has requested the international community for US$ 75 million to be distributed as follows:
Water and sanitation: 12.7 million; health-care and nutrition: 25 million; pastoral farming and crop farming: 4.7 million.
In Eritrea the situation is similar to that of Ethiopia. In 2002 the harvest was 60% less than the harvest registered in the previous ten years: only 74,000 tons, sufficient for 15% of the food demands of the country. Various international humanitarian aid agencies have promised 50million dollars for emergency aid for Eritrea. LM (Fides Service 17/1/2003)